Postgame thoughts after A’s 6-1 victory over Seattle Mariners

Just some scattered thoughts after the A’s snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Mariners 6-1 on Friday night …

–On paper, the loss of Brandon McCArthy seems to be a blow that the A’s young starting rotation shouldn’t be able to compensate for as they enter a brutal stretch of schedule. But should we be surprised if this team turns a worrisome situation such as McCarthy’s health into a rallying cry? The bonds that exist on this roster are strong, and it’s clear they want to play well in honor of McCarthy. I’m not sure how many victories that will translate to over the final three-plus weeks of the regular season. But in this crazy and unpredictable year for the A’s, they tend to latch on to an emotional spark and ride it for all its worth. We’ll see what effect this one has.

–A.J. Griffin has racked up plenty of sparkling stats. This one sums up his performance pretty well. In four road starts, the rookie has allowed just four earned runs and struck out 25 in 23 1/3 innings. He impressed Friday despite throwing just 5 1/3 innings. Griffin said after the game he struggled with command of his curve early, but he harnessed his control enough for seven strikeouts. You gotta like the way he gets hitters to wave at his big curve, and then has them chasing a high fastball.

–Second baseman Cliff Pennington had a 4 for 4 night. OK, so two of the hits were infield singles. But he doubled in the eighth, and in his career against Felix Hernandez, he is 13 for 39.

–This had the looks of a tough weekend for the A’s considering they faced Hernandez on Friday and have tough lefty Jason Vargas on Sunday. But now they’ve beaten Hernandez and send Brett Anderson (3-0) to the mound Saturday night. Suddenly the complexion of this series has changed, don’t you think?